This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
Listen
Potato brown rot controls
02/03/2006
European Commission measures to control potato brown rot have been extended for another year, the Executive announced today.
The measures prohibit the import of Egyptian potatoes into the EC unless detailed requirements have been met and supplement controls first introduced in 1996 relating to outbreaks of the disease in Egypt.
Existing controls on the disposal of waste from packing and processing, to prevent the spread of potato brown rot as a possible latent infection, must also be maintained.
Potato brown rot (Ralstonia solanacearum) is a bacterial disease which can seriously affect potato yields and make infected potatoes unusable. It has no implications for human health.
These measures supplement existing EC plant health legislation under which potato brown rot is classified as a quarantine disease. There have been seven outbreaks of the disease in potatoes in England: one in each of the years 1992 and 1995, both in the Thames basin; two in 1999, in Northamptonshire; one in Kent in 2000; and two in 2005 in Nottinghamshire. The disease was also found in 1997 and 1998 in tomato plants grown at one locality in Bedfordshire.
The Potatoes Originating in Egypt (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2006, which come into force on 28 February 2006, prohibit the import into Scotland of potatoes grown in Egypt in the 2005/206 season unless they were grown in pest-free areas recognised by the EC and comply with detailed plant health conditions. These conditions include requirements on Egypt to register traders and to test seed potatoes which are used to produce the export crop. Imported consignments will be inspected and samples tested for latent brown rot infection. A charge of £37.50 will be levied for each test carried out. There is similar legislation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Traces of brown rot infection were found in 0.18 per cent of the 21,663 tonnes of Egyptian potatoes imported into the United Kingdom during the 2004-2005 season. The potatoes concerned were destroyed.
There are no direct imports into Scotland of Egyptian potatoes, which arrive in the UK through English ports.